Three Pieces of Glass Have Changed Our Society

 

A recent commercial for a pizza chain reprises a classic TV scene where a man walks into an establishment. In the classic version, he is recognized, and everyone calls out "Norm."  In the contemporary version, no one knows his name because he hasn't created an online profile tracked on his phone. In the old neighborhood bar, "everybody knows your name."

Now belonging is increasingly mediated through a screen.

Eric O. Jacobsen did not anticipate the commercial, which underscores the theme of belonging represented by Norm that runs through his book: "Three Pieces of Glass." Jacobsen contends that the windshield of the automobile, screen of the television, and screen of our smartphones, tablets, and computers, have fundamentally influenced our experience of belonging in society.

Jacobsen begins his discussion by exploring the nature of belonging as levels from intimate and personal to social and public and how intimate and personal are not enough.

The book's second part sketches out the nature of kingdom belonging, which he characterizes as unconditional, invitational, compassionate, diverse, transformative, and productive.

Part three considers the gospel and belonging and shows how broken relationships are restored through the gospel, and there is healing for the epidemic of loneliness.

The fourth part of the book addresses how the "three pieces of glass" have contributed to our crisis of belonging.

The automobile has changed how our living spaces have been configured, from the design of our homes to the walkability of our neighborhoods and the location of where we shop and work in relation to where we live.

Television changes how we view real people versus our "TV friends."

Our smartphones and other devices have led us to substitute virtual for face-to-face interaction.

These have led to erosion in the civic realm and an epidemic of "busyness.

The last two parts of this book consider, first, the influence of our choices on our communal life, our public policies, and our liturgical life, and second how we may encourage belonging.

During Covid-19, these three pieces of glass were important. For many people, working from home and attending church was only possible because of those pieces of glass.  

At the same time, people were walking their neighborhoods at safe distances, sometimes meeting neighbors they never knew by name.

I know of one neighborhood where a local folk singer set up in his front yard and staged an impromptu singalong. When we can't go to restaurants, sporting events, and other places our cars take us--we are left with walking, and a kind of "neighboring" occurs.

Jacobsen's book makes me wonder if we will take a fresh look at our neighborhoods, what is good about them, what could be better about our places, and how we connect.

It will not surprise me if life becomes more oriented for more people around these devices. We are doing more education through them, more commerce, more business collaboration, and even more religious activity.

Yet Jacobsen reminds us of our epidemic of loneliness. He raises the critical question of whether belonging can be mediated through a smart device, or whether the proximity necessary for social and public belonging can be created in a car culture.

We may love our TV friends, but will they love us back? How we answer those might well make the difference between places where nobody or everybody knows our names.